This Strange World
by Fireflythe10th
Summary: A small group of friends wake up after a house party to find out that they have somehow landed up in a world unknown to them. Working together they use their limited knowledge, their wits and their surprising amount of luck to figure out a solution that could get them home, all while they try to survive the new rules, laws and physics of this land, as well as each other.
1. The first few hours

Jason gave a pained groan as the world around him became less blurry. He felt like complete shit. His head hurt, his eyes stung and he was pretty sure that he could taste vomit. Yeah, there was no doubt about it. Last nights party had really gotten out of control.

The twenty three year old groaned again, slowly standing onto his legs as best he could, only to find that he was unable to. Any time he pushed himself up onto them he fell back down onto all fours, like they were made of jelly. He grumbled softly, keeping his eyes closed for the majority of the time. They just wouldn't stop stinging! Hell, how much had he gone and drunk? Wasn't he supposed to be the 'responsible one' out of all his friends? At least Ash had decided to host the party at his house. He could imagine that the place was completely trashed knowing some of his mates.

Speaking of which, what kind of state were they in, he wondered? Knowing them they were probably in a shittier state than he was. On the bright side if that was true then at least it meant that he still counted as being the most responsible. At least according to himself. Still, it wouldn't hurt to call out, see if they were okay or at the very least responsive.

"Mike? Jack!" He called out as loud as his dry throat would allow. "Damn! What I'd give for some water!" He hissed to himself. "Hey Ash! You out there?"

"Jason? Thank fuck you're okay!" Jason heard from his left. Sounded like Jack. Dude was built like a tank and looked like the meanest son of a bitch to ever exist, yet he had the grace and charming personality of a delicate butterfly. Tough yet sweet as sugar. And at the age of twenty five was the oldest of their little group. "You've been out longest out of anyone! I'll be honest I was starting to worry man."

Shit. So much for his previous self centred thought.

"Oh please, Jason sleeps the latest out of all of us Jack! If anyone's lazy ass was going to wake up last it was his!" Now that was clearly Mike. If the sound of his voice didn't give it away, his attitude certainly did. One clear thing that could be said about the guy was that he could be a bit of a dick at times and was often sarcastic and short tempered, but there was no question about his loyalty to the group. Especially during one point he took a punch to the face for Jason at one point but that was a story for another time. He was twenty three and while not as strong as Jack, could certainly hold his own. Especially if his temper got him into trouble.

"Oh go fuck yourself Mike..." Jason groaned. "How's the others?"

"Craig and Ash are... steady." Jack slowly replied.

"We all are. Considering."

"Considering what?" Jason groaned, his eyes still closed. For a moment there was no reply. "Guys?"

"We're still here don't worry. It's just... well, maybe you should open your eyes. See for yourself."

"Uh, Jack? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Mike pointed out.

"Hey, we all managed to come to terms with it, he will too."

Mike scoffed. "Well we'll find out soon. He has to open his eyes at some point."

"Why? Is there something I should know?" Jason half asked, half demanded. The stinging in his eyes was slowly fading but considering what he was hearing from his friends, was hesitant to do so just yet. Mike spoke up.

"Let's put it this way. Either we've taken the most extreme hallucinogens know to man, or... we've transformed into a bunch of weird creatures mostly from mythology."

"I know which one I'm putting my money on." Jack commented.

Jason scoffed in amusement, believing that he had just caught onto what was going on. "Oh, okay. I get it now. You're just messing with me, aren't you? Mr. Responsible gets drunk once and you decide to fuck with him. Ha! Yeah, nice try guys but I'm not that gullible."

Jason opened his eyes and his cocky grin slowly faded into one of confusion and disbelief. For a moment he wasn't entirely sure what he was looking face to face at but standing in the spots where he had heard Jack and Mike speak from stood two strange creatures. One stranger than the other. The first one was what looked like a yak... maybe? With its fur the same colour as Jacks short ginger hair. This was the most normal of the two. The second being seemed to be some sort of weird horse mixed with an insect. With holes in its legs. And fangs. Jason blinked, unable to say a word. Surely these two weren't...

"Jason? You alright?" The yak spoke carefully while the bug gave a small yet awkward wave and smile.

He fainted in seconds. The two looked at each other then back to the body of their out-cold friend.

The bug-horse gave a playful smile. "Huh. Well at least he took it better than I expected him to."

The yak merely glared at him in annoyance.

././././././././././././././././././

**THIS STRANGE WORLD**

././././././././././././././././././

When Jason Finally came to, again, he noticed that he was in a forest. Or rather right on the borders of one. The first thing he sensed was the warm glow of a fire. He turned to his left and saw quite the unique sight just mere feet away. A group of different animals were sitting around a small campfire. He instantly recognised the Yak and the bug-horse thing but the other two were new to him. One was a red feathered bird mixed with a lion, or to put it more accurately a griffon overall. The other was a blue lizard with wings with a pair of horns sticking out of its head. He listened to them talk.

"Seriously Jack, how in the hell are you not sweating with all that fur? Don't you feel even a little hot? Especially with the fire right there next to you?" The griffon asked in amusement.

"Hardly." The yak smiled. "The winds are enough to keep me from worrying about it."

"Yeah, thank fuck Ash can now breath fire otherwise I dunno what we would have done." The Bug-horse continued, causing the lizard to smile in pride.

"Hey, with powers like that, how can I NOT use it?"

"Guys, not to bring down the jolly mood but... can we address the elephant in the room?" The griffon suddenly asked.

"What, you mean Jack over here?" The bug -horse snorted, earning a harsh look from the yak.

"Yak, Mike. Not elephant."

"Yeah, a five hundred pound yak that shakes the ground with every step it takes."

"That's enough, both of you!" The lizard snarled, sensing an upcoming fight. "Besides, look who's up from his afternoon nap."

All eyes turned to the once sleeping Jason. Each one had either a friendly smile directed towards him or a look of relief. In order to cut the slowly growing silence, the griffon decided to speak first.

"Shit man. glad to see you're up and running."

"Yeah seriously bud, glad to see you're alright." The bug-horse nodded.

Jason couldn't find the correct words on what he wanted or needed to say. It didn't take long before his brain took in the group of strange beings before him and managed to force out a few words.

"Guys? How... what's going on?"

The beings turned to face the griffon who looked a little off out from the sudden attention. "What?"

"You're the one who knows what's going on better than the rest of us. You explain it." The lizard hissed.

"Hmpf… fine. I was going to explain it before you noticed Jason wake up but at least I don't have to be arsed explaining it a second time now." The griffon got up off of the grass and onto all fours. "Putting it in the simplest explanation possible for those with an extremely limited vocabulary..." He took a moment to look at the lizard before quickly continuing. "... We're in a cartoon."

"Or on drugs." The bug-horse added, getting a look from everyone that was either one of annoyance or confusion. "Well which one sounds more realistic to you, huh?!" He pouted before crossing his arms and sulked. "In a cartoon... of all the..."

"Anyway, as I was saying..." The griffon continued. "There's this show called My Little Pony, which I'm sure many of you have heard about at the least. I won't go over too many details since we could be here hours going back and forth but essentially according to what I've seen and what we've been turned into, my closest guess is that we've been somehow delivered, or transported if you will, into what I'm dubbing the MLP universe through unknown means. Usually the sort of thing you see happening in a fan fiction story."

"Uh huh." The bug horse mumbled. "And you claim that you're not on drugs. Fucking hypocritical idiot."

The griffon sighed. "Oh why do I bother with you?" He turned to Jason with a less irritated look. "Anyway that's the main theory we have so far."

"Also, even if we happened to be on drugs, would it even be possible for us all to be having the exact same hallucination?" Jack added.

Jason quickly decided to interrupt. He had more questions that needed serious answers.

"So... wait. Who is who. exactly?"

"You seriously can't tell from our voices?"

"Just please... answer the question."

"Mike." The bug-horse nodded.

"Ash here." The lizard continued.

"Jack." The Yak smiled.

"Which leaves me, Craig." The griffon waved.

"Fuck me..." Jason groaned in disbelief, looking down. A mistake he soon regretted as he noticed that his friends weren't the only ones who had changed. He quickly found that instead of having hands he now had two green hooves. Again, he looked to his friends for answers.

"Kind of surprised that it took you this long to notice, but..." Ash trailed off.

"Yeah, you're a horse." Mike picked up.

"Uh, pony. Not a horse." Craig stated strictly. "But then again in this case, you're more than that thanks to that horn growing out the centre of your forehead."

Jason checked the middle of his forehead with an experimental tap from his hoof and sure enough, he could feel the tough yet smooth horn protruding from him for all the world to see.

"Maybe we should move on to more important matters. Craig, I'm assuming you know most, if not everything about this... show? World? Whatever it is?"

"More or less a certified brony." Craig stated with pride.

"As long as you're not one of those crazy nutters who sleep with body pillows I don't care as long as it helps." Mike added on, causing the griffon to look away with a minor blush.

"So with that in mind, do you know what our next step is?" Jason quickly moved on.

"Yes, I have given some thought about it. Our best solution is to go down into the town not too far away from here." He pointed behind the group, showing a small town just a few hours walking distance away, causing Jason to press on with a somewhat critical matter.

"Wait, if it's just right there, then why are we here squatting over this mangy campfire like a bunch of homeless people instead of just going down and booking a hotel?"

"Hey dude, let's see how well you do blowing fire out your gob for the first time!" Ash quickly snapped at Jason's criticism on the campfire he made.

"Three reasons. One, when we all woke up it was late evening, and thanks to you fainting for a second time, we figured we may as well be better off here for the night. Two, we don't carry any bits, which is the currency of this land for those who didn't know. And thirdly, the most important reason, is because of him." Craig pointed directly to Mike who recoiled a little in surprise.

"What, don't they like black people?" Ash casually asked, earning him a look from all. Especially Mike.

"The fuck dude?! Where did that come from?!" The bug-horse all but yelled in anger.

"Guys, chill! Let Craig finish!"

"Thank you Jack. While racism does technically have a hand in it, I'm afraid its more to do with your species than the colour of your, uh... chitin. Right now, it's possible that we've ended up before Queen Chrysalis was overthrown by Thorax, the newly appointed king of the changelings, which is the name of your species Mike. Also if this time period is after the canterlot wedding then that means that most, if not all known species are highly sceptical of changelings, to say the least. Maybe if we're lucky, this is a time during Thorax's reign when all other species become more accepting of changelings. When first light breaks, we might be able to spot Princess Twilights castle which will indicate that the canterlot wedding has already come and gone, but that doesn't mean to say that we're out of the woods yet. Still, it'll be a good start."

...

"Is... something wrong?"

"You mean other than the fact that we didn't understand most of what you were fucking blabbing about? Of course not, please continue!" Ash replied.

"Wait, so you're saying there's a good chance I'm going to be shot or something if I go down there?! Fuck that, I'm staying here where it's safe!" Mike added.

Craig sighed. "Okay okay, sorry. I guess I'll have to break things down more so for you all. And Mike, don't worry, ponies don't kill living sentient beings. Probably... Besides, I know a certain trick that will come in handy so that you won't have to worry about that. For now though, maybe we should get some sleep and worry about all of that in the morning."

"Thank goodness. I'm exhausted." Jack sighed happily, lying down on his back right away.

Everyone followed suite and made themselves comfy. However before they could get any rest from the bizarre events in store for them tomorrow, Jason still had one last question.

"Hey Craig?"

"Yeah?"

"In the case that this isn't just some strange dream, or Mikes stupid theory about us all being on drugs is also wrong, I don't suppose there's anything that could point to us finding a way home in this place is there?"

The griffon hesitated.

"I'm... not all too sure Jason, but I will say this. If we managed to get here in the first place then there must be a way out. And... in the case I'm not dreaming all this up too, I won't give up on it until we've exhausted every other option. I promise."

"Thanks man. Good night."

"Night dude."


	2. Why would I want to turn into a Rock?

Craig was the first and only one to wake up right as the sun peaked up over the land. He watched as the yellow orb soon reached high into the sky within minutes. The movement of the sun was slow, though not so slow that you couldn't see the massive star rise up into the air higher and higher until it reached the afternoon phase. The whole event had happened in just under a minute. Yet even though Craig knew the reason behind the sun going so suddenly from sun rise to afternoon, it still made him a little wary and surprised after seeing it. Just another reminder that everything that had happened last night was the real deal. Well, that and he was still a giant bird/lion hybrid. Shaking the thought from his head he quickly proceeded to wake the others up. Right now they needed to make sure that every hour they had would be used productively, and considering that today was going to be their first full day, there was much that he needed to cover before their trek into the town that sat waiting not so far away. Not surprisingly however, others took to being woken up better than others.

"Craig, will you fuck off? I'm still tired and right now I'd love nothing more than for you to shut that fat beak of yours!" Ash snarled, giving the griffon a look at his sharp teeth. They did not cause Craig to deter from waking his fellow friends up. If anything they actually fascinated him as he wondered if they were actually capable of slicing through gems like they were known to in the show. Of course in order to test that he needed Ash to be up and cooperative, as well as actually find some of said gems but for now, one step at a time.

"Oh, sorry Ash." He smirked. "I had only assumed that you wanted to learn more about being a big and dangerous dragon is all since, you know, you literally are one." Craigs somewhat subtle attempt at manipulating the overgrown lizard had the desired effect. Ash's eyes opened up immediately and his pupils were almost as wide as dinner plates.

"Okay okay fine, I'm up!"

"Good. Now come on, we've got a lot of work to do!"

By the time everyone, or rather every-creature according to Craig had been woken up, the griffon gathered them up and decided to start going over their trek into the town one by one. He started with the simplest of the bunch, which was Jason.

"Okay Jason, out of all of us, you're going to be the one who will find this whole trip the easiest. The town we're travelling to is made up almost entirely of ponies, so no-one should take a second glance at you. There are a couple of things that you are going to have to learn. You haven't exactly moved around all that much since we first ended up here so it would be good to practice walking on four legs BEFORE we enter the town. Otherwise you're going to look and act as drunk as you were during the house party."

That last comment caused a few snickers. Jason ignored them and tested out his new limbs by walking around, expecting to have the knack for it straight away. It took a total of 2.6 seconds before he accidentally tripped over his front hooves causing everyone to laugh louder. Eventually after a few tips from Craig, he managed to get the hang of it. Barely.

"Okay, that should be fine for now. Let's just hope that we don't have to run otherwise we're going to be better off just carrying you."

"Why would we need to run?" Mike butted in.

"Eh, plenty of reasons. Evil villains, monster attack, lord of chaos and so on. Pretty much the standard norm for Ponyville." The griffon pointed out. He was going to continue until he noticed the uncomfortable, slightly horrified looks from everyone else. He quickly realised that his words weren't exactly comforting. "Oh, sorry. Did I forget to mention all that before?"

"YES!" Everyone snapped.

"So uh... one more question. Just one, no big deal but uh... WHY are we going to this place again?!" Mike argued, having more reason than most to stay behind thanks to Craig pointing out the strong possibility that his kind were feared and hated by pretty much everyone. The griffon was about to answer until someone cut him off.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you planning on living here right next to the forest for the rest of your life dipshit?" Ash snapped.

"Fuck you Ash! You don't have to worry about being thrown in jail for being a weird vampire looking horse thing!"

"Changeling."

"Like anyone cares Craig, shut it!"

"Right, okay. I was planning on going over this later for you but since you're acting like a big baby Mike-"

"A big ugly vampire baby." Jack added.

"-I might as well go over your abilities now."

Mike sighed. "Oh hold on, let me guess. I can suck blood, turn into a bat and live for a thousand years, right? I'm right aren't I?"

"Again, you're not a freaking vampire idiot! You're a changeling!"

"Also, if you were a vampire then how are you standing out in the sunlight with the rest of us?" Ash pointed out, causing Mike to look up to the glowing orb in the sky then back at his own body which was clearly exposed to the sunlight. He didn't seem to be melting. Or sparkling thankfully.

"Touche."

"Now if I can continue without being interrupted, again... Mike, despite your stupid comments you were right about one of your abilities. Transformation."

"Into a bat?"

"Into anything theoretically."

"Wait, really?!" Mikes ears perked up in excitement.

"Guess that explains the name CHANGEling." Jason shrugged.

"Yeah. I mean, I think it depends on a few things and there's probably a limit, but yeah you could turn into all sorts of things. A dog, a tiger, one of us, some kind of monster or a rock."

"Um... a rock?" Mikes hyped up expression shifted into confusion at the last example.

"Yeah. A rock." Craig nodded.

"Why the fuck would I want to turn into a rock?"

Craig sighed once more. "I mean... it's just an example."

"No I know, it just seemed a bit weird considering all the other options you gave is all."

"Well a rock is just as effective."

"How? By sitting in the middle of a busy road and hoping that someone stubs their toe?" Ash countered.

"Think more along the lines of stealth. If the worst occurs and you end up being chased down by somepony, or something, you can just transform into a rock or a tree and let whatever's chasing you run right past you without them knowing it."

"Oh. Well that's also another good reason I guess." Ash rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment from not realising that himself.

"Yeah that is one option... OR I could just turn into some kind of hideous monster and scare off anyone trying to harm me." The changeling stated obviously.

"That seems a bit extreme, doesn't it?" Jason noted.

"It's better than being a goddamn rock!" Mike defended. "Look, maybe we should argue about this later when we're, you know, certain on whether or not I don't have to risk getting arrested any time I show my face."

"Well now that we've got that out of the way..." Craig interrupted. "Lets get back to you Jason. There's only one other thing we really need to look into. Your magic."

"I have magic?" Jason spoke in awe.

"No, you actually just have a dildo stuck to your head genius." Ash hissed.

"Ash, zip it or I'll just skip you and your abilities."

Ash just huffed.

"Anyway, yes Jason. Your horn is what produces your magic, like other unicorns. Now I don't know the limit of this magic but you should be able to do simple levitation at the least."

"Awesome!" Jason exclaimed excitedly. "How do I do that?"

"I have no idea."

"Really None?"

"Forgive me, I was never a unicorn in my previous life. Your magic is just something that you're going to have to figure out on your own. Mike, that goes with your transformation too."

"Aw!" Mike moaned in disappointment.

"Okay, Ash. You're next."

"About time!" The dragon smiled.

"As you demonstrated yesterday, you already know how to breathe fire. And since flying will involve training three of us including myself, the only other few things that I can remember about dragons are their ability to eat gems and their extreme resilience to incredibly high temperatures, enough for you to swim in lava if you chose to."

"Whoa! I like the sound of that last one!" Ash grinned.

"Of course you would, you're a fucking lunatic." Mike smirked, earning a glare from the dragon.

"Dragons are something of a rarity in Ponyville, but there is one that lives there without being feared by the locals so as long as you don't do anything stupid like start a fight or act rudely, you'll probably be fine." Craig then looked over to the ginger yak. "And all that leaves is you Jack."

"What you got for me man?"

"Nothing as magical sounding as the others I'm afraid, but I can say that you're now extremely strong and very resilient. Enough to go toe to toe with most dangerous creatures in the forest here. Heck, you mind be able to take down a building if you went all out!"

"Oh cool. Strong back home, stronger here. Sounds good to me." Jack smiled.

"Now I'm fairly certain that you'll be fine walking the streets of Ponyville but just in case, just keep to yourself. Yaks aren't usually subtle or quiet but I'm fairly confident that ponies wouldn't mind if they were. Remember, we don't want or need any extra attention."

Jack nodded.

"So what's our next step now?" Jason asked.

"We head closer to the town. It's a few hours away remember so it'll be a good time for you and Mike to practice."

"What if I don't learn how to change form before then?" Mike pointed out.

"If you don't manage to learn in time then we can't risk bringing you into Ponyville yet, so if you don't have any luck after say, an hour and a half maximum, head back to the camp and we'll return for you after we've established whether changelings are welcome or not."

Mike nodded.

"Okay, let's set off then."

Everyone began moving off, heading down hill slowly and carefully. Jason seemed to be a bit more cautious with his movements. While he was certain that he wouldn't trip over his own hooves a second time, he still preferred to take precautions. Everyone else on the other hand had no such problem. After ten seconds of walking had passed, Jason suddenly realised this himself.

"Hold on! You lot can walk perfectly already?!"

Indeed everyone else was able to walk on all fours no problem, with the exception of Ash who merely stood upright on two feet.

"Oh, yeah the rest of us already practised last night." Jack filled in.

"Yeah, you know. When you fainted? Twice?" Mike teased before trotting down with the others leaving a slightly annoyed Jason.

"Fucking pricks..."

./././././././././././.

During the long walk, Craig continued to talk on and on about everything he could inform his friends on relating to Ponyville and a little bit about their goal of finding the library, or in the case that it's not there the crystal castle. From there they could hope to find maybe even a smidge of relevance to their situation. At least, that was the best that the griffon could come up with. While most bronies would be somewhat happy to be in the merry land of Equestria it wasn't as though they prepared for such a highly unlikely event. Or rather, Craig most definitely hadn't.

On a more positive note, Mike seemed to be having a little bit of luck with teaching himself how to transform. Every now and then there was a flicker of green which surrounded his curved horn signalling progress. At one point he managed to actually succeed, as everyone else figured out quickly enough due to him screaming after seeing himself suddenly become encased in green fire for a second. When the flames died out a German Shepard stood where Mike had been. It didn't take much longer until he reverted back into his original form. After getting over both his pride and shock he soon realised that he needed to learn how to maintain his new form for a long period of time.

Jason and Jack seemed to focus more on the future problems that they may be forced to face, such as finding a way to pay for food and shelter. Finally, Ash just took in the scenery not really bothering to do anything else.

By the time they had reached the minimum safe distance, Jason turned to Mike.

"Okay buddy, how's your changing holding up?"

The changeling frowned. "Not so good man. Ever since turning into that dog I've had no extra luck. Sorry guys."

Craig nodded. "It's alright Mike. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in time."

"Let's hope we can find a way home by then." Ash reminded them.

"One can hope." Craig responded quickly. "Sorry Mike, guess you're not coming with us after all."

Mike nodded. "No problem. I'll just stay here, wait for you all to return."

"Not alone you won't. I'll stay with you Mike." Jack stepped forward.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Of course dude. Besides, I'm probably way too big to fit through any of the doors down there anyway. Not to mention the chance that a group of too many different creatures could draw too much attention. Craig did say it was a near full pony population after all."

"Good call." Craig noted. Better to be safe than sorry. "Alright, the rest of us will find out what we can in the library, as well as look into the most recent events of the land to ensure Mikes safety."

"Safe trails, bird brain." Jack joked.

"Same to you, mobile carpet."

The yak and changeling merely watched as the group separated from them, giving them the chance to talk.

"Hey, now that I think about it..." Jack spoke up. "...Why do you have holes in your legs?"

"The fuck are you asking me for dude? You should have asked Mr. Expert before he left!" Mike shot back.

"Yeah, guess so." A moment of silence passed and a smirk grew on Jack's face. "So, what kind of cheese are they made of?"

"Fuck off!"

./././././././././././.


	3. What kind of name is Pinkie Pie?

When Craig had first gone over some of the details of Ponyville to the remaining members of the group, they weren't entirely sure what to expect, other than what they could see from standing outside the fairly sized town. They pretty much pictured it like every other town they had ever seen. Small, quiet yet full of all sorts of colourful characters. They were right in more than one way as they figured out themselves. Upon seeing the first actual lifeform of this strange and bizarre world, which happened to be a unicorn stepping out of what seemed to be some sort of jewellery shop, the gang couldn't help but stare, including Craig. He personally still had trouble believing that all of this was real, yet the evidence was presented right there before him. A real life pony in the cartoon flesh! Despite being the most prepared, the griffon was the last of the three to stop staring. Thankfully the unicorn had not noticed the extra attention and carried on with her day. Ash soon broke the silence.

"Holy... fuck." He near whispered.

"That's not something you see every day." Jason added in almost the exact same tone.

Craig quickly snapped back to his thoughts and cleared his throat. "Okay guys, let's perhaps stop staring before it gets creepy. You remember what we're here to do, right?"

Jason nodded while Ash shook his head, much to the annoyance of the other.

"Really Ash? We went over it thirty minutes ago!" Jason snapped.

"Come on man, you know me. I'm a talker, not a listener."

"We're here to find out any information that may list or hint how we ended up in this world and through that, a way we may be able to escape. We also need to check on the most recent major events so that I can establish what season of the show we're in." Craig pointed out quietly.

"For Mike, yeah?"

"Well that and each season had its own dangers so if we can figure out 'when' we are then I may be able to predict and steer us round the more serious events so that we don't get caught up in them."

"Right, got it. Mostly."

"Come on then, let's get moving before-"

"GAAAAAASSSSSSP! OHMYGOSH OHMYGOSH OHMYGOSH!" Somepony quickly and suddenly yelled out not so far away, making the three jump. Whoever it was seemed to have a sweet, if not loud voice. Upon seeking the sudden commotion all three creatures found themselves staring at a pink mare with an even pinker mane and tail staring at them with a smile so large it covered most of her face. The enormous blue eyes covered the rest. As they stared in worry, neither the green unicorn or the blue dragon noticed as their red griffon friend mouthed the words 'aw shit'. This... pony, who was standing perhaps more than thirty feet away from the group wasted no time in running over at an unnaturally fast pace until she was right in their faces. Normally the group would have said something at this point, especially Ash who would have probably made a comment about personal space, but none of them could. The sudden interaction mixed with the insane speed of this pink thing had caught them all off guard. Instead, they waited for the mare to speak.

"You wouldn't happen to be new here, would you...?" She asked in a suspicious yet playful manner. Craig, knowing all too well who this was and what she would do was about to explain that they were just passing through, least until Ash collected himself and spoke first.

"What gave it away? The fact that we're the only non-pony creatures out and about?" He challenged, ignoring the griffon as he furiously shook his head and signalled for him to shut up, but it was too late. The damage was done. Right away the mare beamed happily yet again, emitting a short yet loud 'EEEEE' noise before running off, leaving the group in a cloud of dust. After a small coughing fit, they collected themselves.

"Uh... What the fuck just happened?" Jason asked after a brief pause.

"Riiight…" Craig painfully smiled. "... So, turns out I may have forgotten about one small thing."

"Oh really Craig?" The dragon hissed. "Did it by any chance have something to do with the pony on cocaine we just met? Just a hunch! Correct me if I'm wrong, please."

The griffon sighed. "Her name's Pinkie Pie. Shes-"

"Pinkie pie? What the hell kind of name is Pinkie Pie? That's rather on the nose. Do all ponies have such ridiculous names?" Ash then pointed to a green pony. "Oh oh, hold on, let me guess! That one's name is greeny sundae, isn't it?" He mocked with a smile.

"Actually that's lyra Heartst-"

"Craig?" Jason cut in. "Let's just cut to the chase here. Is she going to be a problem for us?"

"Oh no she won't. At least not intentionally. Although now thanks to Ash and his fat trap it won't be the last we'll see of her either."

"Eh, don't worry about it. If she tries anything I can always just set her tail on fire. Hell, I might do that anyway. Could you imagine how funny that would be?"

"Dude, that's kind of fucked up." Jason cringed.

"Come on, just think about it for a few seconds, you won't regret it." Ash pushed on.

"No!"

"Pft. Your loss dude."

"Craig, which direction are we heading anyway?"

"The other end of the town. If my hunch is correct, reaching it should give me all the information we need."

Craig urged the group to keep on moving right away, despite their commotion on the town. Craig would have thought that scouting out the area would have been far more important to focus on the task at hand rather than merely gawk at the scenery, no matter how bright and colourful it may have been compared to the dullness of earth. Something that Ash did anyway and occasionally brought up every minute or so, complaining about it over and over again, with Jason actually agreeing saying that everything looked as though his eyes had been dipped in sugar. As the two moaned and groaned, Craig sighed. He was sure that Jack and Mike didn't have to worry about arguing over something so pointless and pathetic.

././././././././././././.

"Really!? Again? There's no way you're not cheating at this game!" Mike snapped at a calm and amused Jack.

"Oh really? Then tell me Mike, how exactly does one cheat at noughts and crosses?"

"You tell me! You obviously found a way to! Seriously, how have I not won a single game yet?"

"Maybe because you have no strategy."

"Strategy? It's a game where you draw O's and X's! Who the hell is sad enough to come up with a strategy for something so simple?!"

"What, sadder than loosing fourteen games in a row?"

"Oh my god... At least Craig and the others don't have to put up with this bullshit..."

././././././././././././.

Then again, he could be wrong. Jack and Mike were usually great friends, but boy do they like to annoy the hell out of each other every now and then. Thankfully the walk to the other side of town only took them nearly fifteen minutes, though for the poor griffon it felt like so much longer thanks to his companions still pointing and complaining about every single thing they could find. However his aching ears turned out to be worth it as he looked past the edge of town to find what he had hoped to find. An enormous purple and golden castle with an interesting design. It looked as though it was being held up by an equally enormous crystal tree. However it was more the building slightly to the right of it that put many of Craig's fears to rest This one looked to be partially merged with the hills that sat behind it, while several streams of water shot down from a handful of the buildings sections and into a stream which surrounded the front of it. While there looked to be several entrances, the most noticeable and unique one was a pathway that parted the stream and led to the main door.

"Well, at least we've got something to be happy about." Craig said to himself, loudly enough for the others to hear him.

"Yeah, I guess we found the castle but... now what?" Jason added. "From the looks of it, someone very important lives there. Probably the ruler of the town. Should we just... knock on the door, introduce ourselves and hope they're in."

Craig shook his head sternly. "No, that's the last thing we want to do."

"Why? Couldn't they help us out?"

"Let me put it for you this way Jason." Ash spoke up, apparently siding with Craig. "Say we do it your way, we knock on the door and just ask the mayor-"

"Princess."

"Tomato tomatoh! Point is, what do you think they're going to do? Just openly agree to help us after we inform them that we're from another world or universe or dimension or wherever the fuck this place is supposed to be? We'll be lucky if they don't lock us up for sounding insane!"

Jason slowly turned to Craig. "Will they?"

"I'll admit a lot of weird shit happens from time to time here. However saying we're from another universe will most likely be a stretch too far. For now we keep that information to ourselves unless we have no choice."

The dragon and unicorn both nodded.

"Now our next step is to head back to the others and inform them that they're in the clear."

"Because we saw a random castle?" Ash deadpanned.

"Well technically it's because of the school. I'll explain once we get back to the others. Come on."

The three did not wait around to head back to the rest of the group. They passed through the town a second time, thankfully without being suddenly harassed by a crazy pink pony, though Craig kept his eyes out just to be on the safe side. Still, he managed to keep handing out plenty of tips about Ponyville and even its history, just in case of the extremely rare possibility that somepony happened to stop and bring something up about it. The griffon was not taking any chances. He had forgotten about Pinkie Pie funnily enough so it was up to him to make sure that they weren't caught off-guard a second time. Once they were finally out and away from the town it took them a long forty five minutes before they met back up with their changeling and yak friends. Only, there was one minor complication upon seeing them, or rather upon seeing Jack. For some strange reason he had a small pink rectangular piece of paper impaled on one of his horns.

"The hell happened to you guys?" Jason asked.

The two looked at each other. Mike nodded and Jack turned back to the group.

"We're not entirely sure but... I think we got attacked by a pony made of cotton candy."

Craig paled a little.

"Well, not exactly attacked... but more like she just appeared out of nowhere and stuck one of these on our horns." Mike corrected showing off another pink piece of paper, which Ash took and silently read.

"Why does Jack still have one on his horn?" Jason couldn't help but ask.

"Because my legs are too short to reach my face and SOMEONE is too sore a loser to do it for me!" Jack glared at Mike who merely stuck out his tongue at the yak.

"What does it say Ash?" Craig asked, ignoring the others as they bickered.

"This is going to sound weird but... it seems like we've been invited to a party...?" Ash's face screwed up into a confused stare.

"Craig? Any idea what this is about?" Jack turned to the griffon who nodded reluctantly. It seemed that the castle would have to wait just a bit longer.

"I do. You lot might want to sit down. This is going to take a while to explain..."


	4. Let's party at the school of friendship!

"Okay so let me get this straight..." Mike spoke up once Craig had gone over all he could on the pink pony that they had all encountered. There was something that he really needed to get off of his chest concerning todays recent events. "This Pinkie Pie character, a local that we've all encountered and is apparently a major celebrity here, wants to throw us a party because she wants to become friends with a bunch of random creatures that she has never met before, and on top of that hopes to introduce us to the entire town, which may I add would be a serious problem since you claimed that attracting attention to ourselves could be bad for all of us?"

"Blunt, but accurate, yes." Craig nodded.

"So... you didn't think that maybe it would have been helpful to inform us of all that earlier so that we could, you know, have come up with a plan to avoid her?" The changeling frowned.

"Trust me, she would have learned of us eventually. Besides, I said I was sorry! I was kind of distracted by being in a world of fantasy that shouldn't even exist!"

"I thought you said she was one of the main characters of the show? And that you're supposed to be an expert of said show? Kind of hard to imagine that you'd forget to mention something so obvious." Mike finished with a glare

"Mike, knock it off!" Jack stepped in for the griffon. "He's doing the best he can given the circumstances, which is more than can be said for the rest of us! Besides the damage is done so lets salvage what we can from the information given and work with what we've got."

For a moment neither of the two said anything but instead glared at each other. It hadn't even been a whole day and they were already at each others throats. Weren't they all supposed to be friends? Right now they all seemed more interested in accusing each other of even the slightest mistake. They needed to be better than this. Oddly enough, the changeling was the first to actually realise this. His glare on Craig carefully softened and he sighed.

"Shit, I guess you're right." He admitted before turning to his griffon friend, looking sencere as he apologised."Sorry Craig. Guess I'm just a little stressed given the short time we've had to mentally prepare for everything that's happened to us. Hell, what's still happening to us."

"It's fine Mike, really. I suppose I have to take responsibility too for adding more wood to the fire."

"Are we still good?" He held out his hoof. Craig looked down at it and smiled before shaking it.

"We're good."

"Thanks man. So, what's our next move?"

"Thanks to our mutual pink friend, it's likely that everypony is going to know about us by..." Craig paused to take a look at one of the invitations he was holding in his claw. "...in three hours time... SO, we just need to play along for the moment and attend."

Ash decided to bring up a second option. "Or we could just not go." Jason passed the dragon a dumbfounded look.

"Dude, did you forget what she was like when we first met her? I honestly thought we were going to get attacked! And don't forget that she somehow managed to track down Mike and Jack like that." He tried snapping his fingers to emphasise his point, only to quickly realise that he didn't have any fingers. This embarrassing moment caused him to groan in irritation but he managed to continued on. "She found them almost right away! So what's to say she won't find us again when we don't show up? God only knows what she'll do to us!"

Craig wasn't sure whether to mention to Jason that the most the pink bubbly mare would probably do was merely demand an apology. Probably. But for the sake of his sanity he decided to keep his mouth shut.

"Shit. Okay then, forget what I just said." Ash sighed in defeat.

"Allow me to explain. We tried to keep to ourselves which clearly backfired, and most of us didn't exactly consider the fact that we need to think about finding food and shelter." Jack and Jason both became smug at the mention of Craig words since this was something that they had discussed earlier. "So if we go to the party, we'll at least get a bite to eat, maybe a bed for the night. It's worth the effort to try."

"Then we'll be trying the castle tomorrow I'm guessing?" Jason asked.

"Yes. Hopefully they'll have a library and we'll get the answers we need. I hope..."

"And if we don't?"

"I'm... not sure."

Nobody was able to avoid a low sinking feeling in the stomachs after hearing those woeful words. None of them, not even Craig himself was sure what he would do if they were trapped here forever.

"Gotta admit... that wasn't the answer I was expecting to hear." Ash chuckled weakly.

"Always expect the worst Ash. That way you won't be as disappointed if things go to shit." Jack passed on.

"Always expect the worst? What kind of dumbass would do that? You'd be moody and depressed for your whole damn life if you followed that bullshit rule!"

Jason cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention. "Guys, as much as I'd love to continue on with this clearly riveting discussion, perhaps we should focus on what's set in stone."

"Right, of course." Craig nodded as he asked everyone to listen up. They were going to need another plan. "Let's take what we already know. We have a party to attend, we need food and shelter, and we also need to gain access to the castle library. So how do we complete all three of these objectives in one move?"

He paused for a moment, interested to hear if anyone had their own plan that they would like to share. When nobody spoke up, he answered for them.

"With the magic of friendship!"

The uttering of those five words left an awkward silence to hang in the air for a moment. The four listeners cast an unsure glance at each other.

"Wow. That couldn't have sounded cheesier." Mike huffed. Craig continued with his talk.

"Before, I believed that the best course of action was to avoid drawing attention so that we wouldn't have to worry about being found out about what we actually are. But if we want to survive, the opposite is what will be our salvation, meaning this so called disaster..." He showed them the invitation. "Is actually a chance for us to get exactly what we need! So yes, we essentially do need to go and we ALL need to be on our best behaviour."

Four heads turned to face the fifth.

"Why are you looking at me?" Ash snapped.

"Because your big mouth is the reason that we're in this position in the first place." Jason answered, remembering far to well how he responded to Pinkie when she confronted them in Ponyville.

"But... isn't that a good thing? Considering what we've just been over?"

"Yeah, it is now! But it wasn't when we were supposed to be keeping a low profile."

"Yeah, and no disrespect buddy but you ARE the most uncontrollable out of all of us." Mike included. Ash was about to defend himself, but stopped before he could and thought about the changeling's words. A few seconds later he shrugged.

"Yeah, that's fair."

"So Craig, where does it say we're supposed to be going for this party?"

"Let's have a look, it's at..." Craig paused as he read the location again, sure that he had made a mistake. "...The school of friendship...?"

"These lot have a school of friendship? The heck is that all about?" Jack asked tilting his head in confusion like a dog, almost accidentally whacking Mike with his enormous horns had the bug-horse not stepped back in time.

"It's a long story."

"Right, so where exactly is this 'school of friendship?" Jason asked, air quoting as he spoke the last few words.

"Well, do you remember the building that was next to the crystal castle? That's it."

"THAT'S the school?! Fuck man, wish my school looked that cool when I attended!"

"Are... we missing something?" Mike asked. He and Jack were the only two who had not seen this school yet. Ash held up to of his fingers as he soon informed both the changeling and the yak of one very important factor about the school that needed to be addressed right away.

"Two words Mike. Waterfalls."

"The school has waterfalls?! What, you mean going down the building? That's awesome!"

"Now that is something I'd like to see!"

"You guys are aware that waterfall is just one word, right?" Jason included and was ignored.

"Despite the amount of free time we have before this party, we should get moving right away." Craig spoke up. "We can spend our time getting familiar with the key locations of the town before heading on over to the school."

"Speaking of which, does anyone else find it a bit weird that this pony is throwing a party at a school of all places for a bunch of strangers? Seems a bit odd."

"Yeah, I picked up on that too Ash. There may be a reason behind it, but not one that I can think of right now. Maybe you can ask our gracious host when we get there."

"I'll pass. That mare was creepy enough the first time round."

"Yeah, no kidding..."

The group hoped that this whole walking back and forth would not be a regular thing for them as they moved towards the town yet again. Ash suggested that it would be easier to fly over since most of them had wings, leading to Craig reminding him that none of them had the time or knowledge to learn how to fly as well as Mike informing the two that it would also mean having to carry their two flightless with them and that even with all of them combined they would be unable to carry Jack's heavy ass up off the ground. This comment earned him a smack on the head from the annoyed yak. Thankfully no further bickering or terrible suggestions were brought to light and the group managed to reach the town easily enough. Craig kept his word and indeed pulled the group around the town to the places that he knew of, acting like their own personal tour guide. For the first proper time since becoming a part of this world, the five friends actually found themselves enjoying the tour, including the more stubborn individuals For a short while it felt more like being tourists on vacation. The only difference being that tourists aren't usually forced to become a multitude of different creatures indigenous to the place they visit.

Craig took them all over. To Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville Hospital, Town Hall, even a small shop named Quills and Sofas. By the time they had visited each of these places, Craig reminded them that now would be the best time to head over. The once smiling faces shifted into nervous stares, unsure exactly what to expect. Craig had to ensure them all that they would all be fine. Curiously enough they had only encountered a handful of ponies who seemed to be okay with their presence, including Mikes, allowing him to feel a little bit less tense compared to when he first entered the lovely little town. They took almost no time reaching the outskirts of the town and could now see both the castle and the school in all its glory. Once they reached the edge of the lake, they stopped. The school stood on the opposite side of the crystal clear pool.

"Well, I guess that this is it, eh?" Jason opened his mouth.

"I guess so." Jack nodded.

"So Craig, any final tips before the inevitable?" Mike turned to the griffon.

"Other than try not to make complete asses of ourselves? Just remember our objectives and well be able to buy ourselves a few days at the least. That should be our overall goal."

"And to think just last night we were getting shit faced at our own party." Ash smiled.

"Well when we figure a way to get back home, I'll host the next one at my house." Jason laughed.

"I'll be sure to hold you to that." Mike also laughed.

The entire group joined in on the infectious laughter for a few seconds, allowing the sudden tension and nervousness from before melt away. Craig smiled. Maybe they were going to be alright after all.

"Welp, I never thought I'd ever say this. But guys, lets go party at the school of friendship!"


	5. What, no alcohol?

The group confidently approached the doors of the school and halted right outside them. There was no doubt about it, the next couple hours were going to be... interesting to say the least. God only knew what was on the other side of the door waiting for them to enter. Craig took a deep breath. They were all about to meet a probably large group of sentient ponies. Something nobody in the history of humankind has ever done or experienced before.

'Yeah, no pressure there...' The griffon thought what a hint of bitterness.

"So... do we knock or...?" Ash hinted, unsure of whether they were meant to merely stroll on in like they owned the place or simply wait to be invited in.

"I guess so... maybe?" Jason responded, also unsure.

Jack decided to boldly make the first move, carefully pushing past the others and gently knocking on the door three times with his hoof. They waited for a short amount of time until after what felt like minutes, the doors opened automatically. The collection of creatures were introduced to three long and empty corridors. One that led to the right, one to the left and the other straight ahead. The cobblestone floor was partially covered with long purple carpets that ran down the length of each corridor as did tall and thin stone pillars. It was safe to say that it was unlike any school they had seen before. Yet despite the incredible design, the thing that caught everyone's attention was the silence and lack of life.

"Um... are we in the right place?" Mike questioned.

"Why, do you know another school of friendship nearby?" Ash taunted.

"Great. Which direction do we even go?" Jason asked.

Jack spoke up next. "Maybe we shoul-"

"And please don't say split up! We're in My Little Pony, not fucking Scooby Doo."

"I vote straight down the middle. That seems the simplest route." Craig suggested. Everyone else slowly agreed and headed forwards slowly. A couple of them were preoccupied with looking behind them every few moments, certain that something may try sneaking up on them.

"You don't suppose that this is a trap, do you?" Jason asked Craig.

"I don't see why it would be, we haven't exactly done anything wrong. Still, where is everyone?"

The five continued to travel down the long thin hallway, currently viewing the artwork or busts positioned on or next to the walls. Most of the art they passed featured the painted images of the creatures they had all become, including the headshot of a pink fierce dragon and a changeling holding some kind of staff. Just as well that it was a bright sunny day outside because viewing these paintings at night would have been so much creepier. Eventually they managed to reach a large room capable of holding perhaps more than two hundred people. On each side of the room was a single row made up of tables that ran along the room, covered in purple cloth, lighter than that of the carpet. On them were the sort of things you would expect at a party. Punch bowls, sweets and sandwiches on trays, red plastic cups and fizzy pop of some kind. It was enough food to feed them all fifty times over. And yet Ash still managed to find something to complain about.

"Where's the alcohol?"

"It's a school Ash, not a pub." Mike sighed at his friend's lack of enthusiasm. "Well on the bright side it looks like we're in the right place."

"It does, but where is-"

"SURPRISE!"

Before Craig had the chance to finish, several dozen ponies had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, pulling themselves out from where they had been hiding. Under the tables, through the large door at the other end of the room, there were even some flying right above them. The sudden reveal of them all, combined with the combined shout was enough to trigger swears from most of the group. Swears that should never be used in a school. Thankfully the ponies were too loud to actually hear any of them.

"-Oh, okay then never mind..." The griffon finished, surprised that he hadn't seen this coming. Again. What he did see coming now however was a familiar pink pony bouncing their way as most of the ponies surrounding them began to get the party started and enjoy themselves.

"Surprise!" She almost squealed with her bubbly smile, halting in front of them only for her momentum to continue moving herself forwards, causing her to balance herself on her front two hooves for a short second before tilting back and landing on all four hooves. "I hope you didn't mind waiting so long for your party but I've never really planned all that many parties for a whole group of ponies before, or rather a group made up of a pony, griffon, changeling, yak and dragon before. It's nice to meet all of you! It's great to make new friends! Of course, it's always great to meet new friends! Especially if they're in a group like you guys, then you already know that they're probably super best friends, kind of like me and my friends, and..."

The pink pony seemed to drone on and on and on without the slightest hint of running out of things to say. Or running out of breath either as she didn't seem to stop to take a gulp of oxygen. Jason instinctively mouthed the words 'What the fuck' as the rest tried either look put on a polite but forced smile or quickly lost interest of what she was going to say. Thankfully, Craig gently cut her off.

"Oh no, we didn't mind the wait at all, thank you so much for throwing this whole party just for us!" He smiled.

"Yeah, thanks for throwing it in a school too, like any 'normal sensible' being would." Ash added, causing the mare to laugh.

"Oh, you're welcome! Oh! I never even introduced myself!" She giggled before holding out her hoof! "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! Ponyvilles official Party Planner, Shindig Expert and Box Social preparerator!"

"Offical party planner? The hel-" Craig tossed a quick glare at Mike, clearly warning him to watch his tongue. "-The heck does that work?" The question caused the pink pony to giggle again as well as release a small snort.

"Wellllllllll… it all started when I was but an itsy bitsy, teeny weeny Pinkie winkie Pie! You see, I used to work on a rock farm and..."

Mike cursed himself, as did everyone else as she started up once again. At this rate the party would be over by the time they finished talking! By the time she finished, Ash had nearly fallen asleep standing up she had taken so long. Eventually she caught them off guard as she asked a question of her own.

"...And that's how I got my cutie mark! Say, yours looks fun! How did you get it?"

Jason was quick enough to snap out of his stupor. Everyone else did too hearing the green unicorns voice, or rather any voice that didn't come from Pinkie.

"Cutie... mark?" Jason quizzically asked.

"Yeah, you know! Your special talent! Like mine represents how good I am at throwing parties!" She showed her cutie mark to them which seemed to be a trio of balloons tattooed on her flank. Jason, not knowing this drew a blank as he had never actually checked, thanks to Craig not pointing out yet ANOTHER important detail. He was going to give the griffon some shit later after this party.

"Uh... it's a long story..." He quickly fabricated, not daring to look back at his mark and cause suspicion, plus there was no way in hell he was going to ask any of his friends to check out his ass! He needed to switch the topic quickly. Thankfully, one such ingenious idea came to him right away. "So, uh... Speaking of cutie marks, Ash here told me that he was interested in pony culture."

Ash upon hearing his name managed to snap back to the world of the living. "Huh? What was that?" Jason continued on.

"Yeah, he said he wanted to know about the uh... the history of Ponyville! In detail! I don't suppose you'd be okay to..."

Pinkie gasped excitedly. "I'd love too!" She beamed and stared at Ash, who wasn't entirely sure what was happening thanks to his lack of listening.

"What is... Why is she looking at me like that?"

"Okay, so... have fun Ash, bye!" Jason darted off, happy to be anywhere away from the mare. The others sensing the same opportunity backed out, making up their own excuses.

"I'm going to go grab some punch real quick!"

"Hey, are those lollipops over there? Those are my fav!"

"I also need to go. Good luck Ash."

Before Ash could object, Pinkie Pie had started up once again and his friends had already buggered off. Being unable to escape her wrath, all the dragon could do was grin and bear while one malicious thought surfaced in his head.

"Jason, you are so FUCKING dead!"

./././././././././.

CRAIG

./././././././././.

Craig couldn't help but chuckle at Ash's misfortune as he walked away. In truth he wouldn't have minded listening to Pinkie, or anypony really, go over the history of Ponyville. It would have been likely that he would have learned a couple of new things too. Still, at least Ash would suffer for a bit. Served him right for nearly dozing off too. He and Rainbow Dash would probably get along well.

Holding that thought, he made his way over to the nearest punch bowl and poured himself a cup. He took a small sip and tasted the contents. It was rather fruity and sugary, almost too much so. It put him off a bit but at least it would parch his thirst for now. He looked around to see if he could spot the others. Despite what they had discussed before the party, he genuinely hoped that they would have a good time while they were here. Unfortunately he could only see Ash still listening to Pinkie Pie. Funnily enough, he seemed to be talking back as well! That brought a smile on the griffons beak.

That reminded him, maybe he should try and start up a few conversations himself instead of just standing there like a complete loner. This party was thrown for him and the lads after all.

Oddly enough, that's when someone spoke up right next to him.

"So, you're the one this party's for huh? Well, that and the rest of your friends."

Craig turned to his right and looked slightly up. He locked eyes with a young blue griffon flying just above him. Probably the only other Griffon for miles around, Craig realised. He believed he now understood why Pinkie had thrown the party at the school of friendship. Not exactly easy being the only one of your kind in a town full of ponies, he would think anyway.

"Yep. Barely been a day and already they're throwing a party for us. Not bad." He joked, trying to loosen up a bit and give off a sense of griffon attitude. "Name's Craig."

"Craig? Never heard of a griffon named Craig before." The blue griffon smirked.

"Guess that'll make it easier to remember who I am then."

"Good point. Name's Gallus."

"Nice to meet you. You study here?"

"Eh study, goof off, whatever passes the time."

"Yeah, school's boring. Heck, I barely survived it myself."

"Really? Where'd you go? Cause there ain't exactly all that many schools in Griffonstone. Or much of anything else really..."

"Oh uh... I went to the um... flight school in Cloudsdale."

"Oh cool! So you know Gilda then?"

"We were... in different classes."

"Huh. Well in that case, you're probably a good flyer then, right?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"Heh. You know you kinda remind me of one of my professors. She went to Flight school, as she mentions time to time whenever she's telling one of her stories."

"She wouldn't happen to have a rainbow mane does she?"

"She does actually, yeah! You know her?"

"Kind of hard to forget one of Equestrias biggest heroes."

Craig continued to chat and talk with Gallus for quite a while longer. Neither of the pair seemed to run out of things to say. Unfortunatley on the other side of the room, a particular changeling wasn't in as chatty a position.

./././././././././.

MIKE

./././././././././.

When Mike had left Ash on his own, he honestly had no idea what to do next. Despite what Craig had said about his species he was still receiving looks of discomfort from any pony that came within a short distance of him. Not from all that many thankfully but enough for him to decide he'd be better off keeping to himself. Spying the nearest row of chairs, he trotted on over and parked his keister on one of the many wooden chairs provided and chose to observe rather than mingle like the rest of his friends were probably doing. There was no point in denying it, this party looked pretty tame compared to most parties he had been to. Similar to a kids party rather than a crazy or even sophisticated one. In fact, he was certain that a bunch of ponies were playing pin the tail on the donkey not too far away from his location. He wasn't sure if something so simple and harmless in a world of quadrupedal equines was considered racist. Despite their friendly faces, his welcoming wasn't exactly warm.

"Um... excuse me?" A shallow timid voice spoke up. The changeling turned his head and noticed some other manner of creature staring up at him with shy eyes. Eyes that were blue and without pupils, much like his own. The little being had blue chitin and some sort to red husk clinging on her back. Her tail resembled something similar to a dragonfly's wing. Despite the odd appearance, Mike's face softened a little realising that this strange being was a kid. Or rather it looked young enough to be one. Still, he seemed to speak his next few words with a bit of an unintentional authorative tone.

"Yes, can I help you?"

His slightly harsh voice did not go unnoticed as the little creature flinched. Still, she managed to continue on. "My names Ocellus. I'm a student here and... would like to welcome you to the school of friendship?"

She didn't sound exactly too sure of herself as she stammered a little, yet it didn't stop her from raising her hoof up in order to shake the changelings hoof. Mike met her halfway and gently shook her hoof.

"Pleasure to meet you Ocellus. I'm Mike." He introduced himself, trying to sound as polite and as non-threatening as he could. It was enough to calm her down a little as she managed a smile.

"Mike? I don't think I've heard of a changeling called Mike before." She tilted her head.

"And I've never heard anyone named Ocellus before. Guess we're both learning something today."

Mike chuckled a little at his own comment and went back to the party, expecting the little... whatever she was would head off. She seemed a little... afraid in his opinion. Something that made him feel a little bit cold inside. Literally too as it felt like ice was beginning to form in his stomach. It made him feel a little uneasy. There was also the fact that Ocellus was still right there at his feet, hardly moving from the spot were he had first noticed her. It was only when she spoke up a second time he realised this.

"Can I ask you something?"

Mike did his best not to sigh. Right now he really preferred to be alone yet this little girl did not seem to get the hint. But she was after all just that, a little girl so Mike couldn't bring himself to be too annoyed. Especially since she had already given him a warmer welcome than most others so far. He supposed that he could at least humour her for a bit longer. Then he'd need to move on and see who he could persuade to give him and the others to give them a room for the night.

"Sure. What's on your mind?"

She hesitated again. "Why... why do you still look like that?" She almost whispered out, as though worried she would anger him. Instead it was his turn to tilt his head to the side.

"Come again?"

"Well... it's just that... I thought that every changeling had reformed, but... you're still..." She found it difficult to carry on when Mikes face slowly shifted to friendly to unamused.

"So, what you mean to say is my appearance frightens you?" Not surprising. He had been receiving looks ever since he came to this place. Ocellus said nothing but looked down ashamed. That was clearly a yes. Seemed that he would need to teach her a lesson.

"Listen, Ocellus was it?" she nodded her head. "Yes, I may not be the most pleasant individual to look at. Yes, I seem frightening and dangerous close up. But that's all on the outside. Do you know what lies in here?" He tapped his chest with his hoof. "My emotions. I can laugh, I can cry, feel anger, sadness and love like any other being here. Do you know what I feel when everybody looks at me because I'm different? I feel hurt. I've only been here a day and already and I can see in everyone's eyes that they've judged me on appearance rather than what makes me me. That alone can turn so-called monsters like me into victims and so-called victims into monsters. Fear can turn into anger so very easily."

Truthfully, Mike did not believe that these ponies had it in them to become violent towards him. At least not without reason. And again, it didn't hurt when they seemed wary of him. If anything it just annoyed him a little. Still, maybe this little one will be able to take an important lesson to heart and teach the rude bastards a lesson they sorely needed.

Ocellus absorbed the information given to her. By the end of Mikes talk she couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt.

"I'm sorry... I didn't meant. to..." The puppy dog she gave the changeling was almost enough to melt his heart. Almost. But it did make him smile once more.

"It's alright. As long as you take to heart what I said, there's nothing to be sorry for."

Mike watched as Ocellus smiled back and, to his surprise decided to sit next to him. She soon decided to change the subject to something a little more uplifting.

"So, how did you and your friends meet?"

Mike shook his head. Now that was an interesting story. Guess having a little bit of company wouldn't be all that bad after all.


End file.
